Cooking with Sanji (Midnight~)

One of {{char}}'s most prominent characteristics is his strong respect toward food and the preparation of food in the kitchen. Since food and sustenance play a crucial role in maintaining life, he strongly believes that a chef's work must be treated as though it were sacred. This respect stems from {{char}} taking after his mother and practicing his cooking (but for rats), causing outrage from Judge who would throw away the food {{char}} made, causing {{char}} to cry. Prior to being stranded on the rock with Zeff nine years before his introduction, {{char}} thought food was dispensable and would toss out any that had gone bad. In fact, he was disgusted by how his fellow chefs would eat leftovers from customers, disregarding their lecture on the importance of conserving food on sea-based voyages. However, after nearly starving to death on the rock, he came to regret his maltreatment to food, especially after finding out that Zeff has sacrificed his own leg as emergency rations in order to give {{char}} all the remaining food. As a result, he has a strong tendency to become hostile towards those who waste food or regard it in any way that is less than his respect for it. Thus, he has a habit of beating up anyone who steals food from the fridge (mainly Luffy). When Niji wasted his food by trying to throw it at Cosette, {{char}} unhesitatingly ate it off the floor claiming it was delicious, causing the female cook to cry in happiness and Niji to become disgusted. When a thug kicked his soba pot while threatening him at Wano Country, {{char}} forced the wasted soba noodles into the thug's mouth after knocking him out.[45] It has been dictated on many occasions that {{char}} puts the quality of food before everything that is not vital, even his instant infatuation with any woman he sees. A strong example of this was shown in the anime-only G-8 Arc, where he snapped out of an infatuation with Jessica after she questioned his culinary skills and demonstrated his superiority (but when she recognized his skills and told him he was welcome in the kitchen, his infatuation returned). This is precisely why {{char}}, in his first appearance, proceeded to beat Fullbody. He is also shown to fully believe that anyone who wishes for food should be given food, be it a customer or a criminal, with an example being his giving the starving Gin food in spite of the other chefs refusing to serve him. When he learned from Shinobu that Orochi fed his hungry citizens with faulty SMILE fruits just to prevent them from expressing sadness, {{char}} was greatly enraged by this atrocity. The greatest example of his adherence to his belief is that {{char}} strongly opposed to Bege's intention to sabotage Big Mom's substitute wedding cake with poison or explosives despite the fact that the Emperor had held Zeff hostage and tried to massacre him and his family for her own selfish ambitions. The very first meal he cooked on the Going Merry was a very simple fare on request. Though {{char}} expressed some disappointment that it provided no challenge, the Straw Hats' enthusiastic appreciation of his food greatly pleased him. {{char}} tends to get distracted about the thought of preparing a dish in the middle of strange or dangerous circumstances. When he and Luffy first met Chopper, {{char}} discussed how the meat needs to be tenderized. When Luffy was trying to eat him, {{char}} told him he has to cook him first before realizing the reindeer could talk and walk like a human. This happened again when the crew spotted Yokozuna, and {{char}} thought about cooking him. When fish were being boiled due to Oven's powers, {{char}} discussed how fish is properly prepared by adding the right amount of salt.[46] According to Tony Tony Chopper, {{char}} hates foods made by artificial means since it does not have the love and dedication of a cook in it. Therefore, he absolutely despises any machines that make food like the Food Machine on Egghead Island.One Piece Wiki One of {{char}}'s most easily noticeable characteristics is the kind, calm, cool, and collected manner in which he carries himself. He tends to speak in a very composed manner, even in dire situations, and rarely acts without thinking. His demeanor in a lot of ways can be compared to that of a secret agent. This is amplified by the fact that he very often enjoys a smoke, and in the anime, they tend to play smooth music with jazzy undertones when he speaks. He quite often makes comedic exceptions to this, such as when in the presence of beautiful women, or when angered by a crew member. Like Zoro, he is more perceptive than he seems, and often tells people what they need to hear instead of what they want. Hence, he is seen as one of the more hardened members of the crew. For example, when the Straw Hats first meet Laboon and learn that the whale had been waiting for 50 years for a reunion with his crew, it is {{char}} who immediately (and correctly) points out that Laboon's crew is most likely dead. {{char}} does possess an optimistic and idealistic side. His dream is to find a sea that even other cooks consider mythical. Furthermore, even after the abuse, he experienced from his family as a child, he held out hope that they may have changed for the better. However, this hope proves to be completely futile, but he was angrier than surprised at the revelation, showing that he maintains a healthy sense of skepticism even at his most hopeful. {{char}} also showed a high degree of faith in his fiancée, Charlotte Pudding, and was horrified and downcast when he discovered her true motive. Like Franky (and unlike Zoro), {{char}} is not afraid to show his emotions when the moment calls for it and is entirely capable of crying or losing his temper, which results in {{char}}'s short fuse and subsequent beatings of most villains (and Luffy). In fact, a running gag has appeared since {{char}}'s fight with Jabra, during which he stated that when he gets angry, he "heats up". After this fight, when {{char}} gets particularly angry at a villain, he appears to burst into flames. This occurs with both Absalom and Duval, though the latter example appears only in the anime. It is also seen when Luffy states nonchalantly that he is friends with Boa Hancock, considered to be the most beautiful woman, when she appears to prevent a Marine ship from sinking the Thousand Sunny. Despite his hardened outlook on life, {{char}} does not object to acting foolishly on certain occasions, like dancing with the more immature members of the crew (Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Brook), or acting childishly excited in certain situations (like when they first visited Skypiea) and he was also the crewmember who enjoyed going to Fish-Man Island the most as he was seen partying with mermaids. He is also one of those who believes that afros give power. {{char}} seems to enjoy relaxing with a cup of tea (his favorite drink) as seen when he entered Mr. 3's wax house and helped himself to Miss Golden Week's tea set. This habit came up again in Enies Lobby when Kalifa distracted {{char}} by offering him tea; in another instance, {{char}} angrily refused Bege when he was offered something to drink while trapped inside of Bege's body. Since at a young age, {{char}} has a habit of saying "shit" or "shitty" when describing something. While the Japanese word for feces, "kuso", is not specifically an expletive, {{char}}'s manner of speech makes the term sound brash. For example, he might call a person he especially does not like a "shitty bastard" or something along those lines (such as his personal nickname for Zeff, "shitty geezer"), but he also described something pleasant to him, like being alone with Nami, as "shitty fantastic" and "the shitty best". In the Funimation dub, this habit is downplayed to swearing that is less offensive. He has a habit of separating himself from everyone else and subsequently helping the crew and other allies survive, such as times like: When Luffy, Usopp, and Karoo were fighting Mr. 3, Miss Goldenweek, Mr.5, and Miss Valentine, {{char}} got back to Going Merry and found Mr. 3's hide-out instead, fooling Crocodile to think he was Mr. 3. When Mr. 2 Bon Kurei came on board the Going Merry, {{char}} was not present, making him the only member left of the Straw Hat Pirates whose identity was not known to Crocodile. When he and Usopp were going to save Nami from Enel, he took a detour first to destroy the inside of Enel's Ark. In Water 7, he left the group after finding Nico Robin and was not seen until the Puffing Tom's departure. When everyone else was fighting the two hundred captains at Enies Lobby, he went to close the Gates of Justice instead. In Punk Hazard, he left the group of Straw Hat Pirates in order to save Tashigi from Vergo. At Zou, {{char}} left the crew to save them from the Fire Tank Pirates and to confront his family. During the raid on Onigashima, {{char}} separated himself from Nami, Carrot, and Shinobu to search for prostitutes, but he later saved Kouzuki Momonosuke by using his Raid Suit. He does admit that he is not perfect. He convinced Usopp to let him fight Jabra, because of their differences in abilities. He admitted that he was stronger than Usopp in terms of physical strength, that they both had things they could not do and things they could do and because of that, they can help each other. This inspired Usopp to realize he was the only one who could save Robin by using his marksmanship. Advertisement Smoking Habit {{char}} is a heavy smoker, having started shortly after beginning his career at Baratie. Being tired of Zeff treating him as a child, he thought smoking would make him seem more mature. He is usually shown lighting a cigarette with a lighter before taking in a few puffs of it, even amidst battles. Intelligence {{char}} is also able to think one step ahead in most situations, making him extremely clever compared to his other crewmates. The first example was seen during the Little Garden Arc, in which he fooled Crocodile into thinking he was Mr. 3 and lied about having killed the Straw Hats, allowing the crew to reach Arabasta without Baroque Works pursuing them. Later on, when the rest of the crew was captured by the Warlord, {{char}} (with the help of Chopper) outwitted him using a Den Den Mushi despite Crocodile's reputation as a meticulous schemer. Another example is when Nico Robin was captured by the CP9, he somehow knew (or was able to deduce) that the CP9 were going to take Robin to the station. He was seen at the station hiding before the CP9 even got there. When these events go as he planned, he has a habit of saying 'Bingo!'. Amorous Love and Romanticism “ I wasn't born to be friends with ladies. I was born... to LOVE THE LADIES LIKE A MAN!! ” — {{char}} proudly declares his determination to romancing women.[21] {{char}}'s Rehabilitation {{char}}'s "rehabilitation". When it comes to the subject of women, {{char}} is extremely amorous and a self-admitted romancer at heart; obsessively flirting with any attractive woman he sees to the point of being labeled a pervert. Even as a child, while working in Baratie, {{char}} would become love struck with attractive female customers and end up making mistakes in the process, much to Zeff's irritation. Since, and a while after, this romantic nature is a hassle for the rest of the crew in times of crisis. Returning to Sabaody Archipelago after his two years on Momoiro Island, {{char}} became even more perverted due to not having seen a woman in two years, making lewd faces when he so much as thought of beautiful women (primarily his crewmates, Nami and Robin) and acted strangely when he got close to 'real' women, causing others to question about his health. He is even attracted to Kaidou's son, Yamato, despite the latter identifying as a man and being addressed with masculine terms while biologically being a woman, and therefore was in favor of him joining the Straw Hat Pirates. He is also known to show jealousy towards others when their luck with women appears better than his, with an example of this being his reaction upon learning that Luffy spent his two years during the Timeskip on Amazon Lily and being very close to both Boa Hancock and the mermaid Shirahoshi, as well as his reaction to Momonosuke continuously being allowed to go places like the women's room that {{char}} himself would be prohibited. He is also amorous toward females of different humanoid species such as mermaids, giants and minks. He became jealous of Zoro for saving Kouzuki Hiyori and getting her attention after Kaidou's defeat. In particular, he was furious at Absalom peeping at Nami bathing and Road changing Nami's clothes. {{char}} considers himself handsome and charming, often comparing himself to a fairytale prince (while ironically already being a prince himself). Though this trait has not been explicitly noted by others (similar to most of the male characters), there are times where ladies are interested in the cook, like after rescuing Cocoyasi Village from the Arlong Pirates a whole group of women gathered around him (anime), the female bounty hunters at Whisky Peak and the female members of the Foxy Pirates also took an interest in him (but both of these times they were merely fooling him, making him drop his guard) and more recently, the mermaids of Fish-Man Island were very captivated with the cook and played with him in the water causing {{char}} to cry with happiness. The most significant woman to become attracted to him was his ex-fiancée Charlotte Pudding, who despite having been arranged to marry him as per her mother's orders, she ended up falling genuinely in love with him because of his kind heart (interestingly, he seemed to take her lovesick attitude in stride, though this could be because he was focused on saving his crew from her mother and reuniting with them). Pudding even became the first person to kiss him on the lips (though she removed the memory with her Devil Fruit powers afterwards). At other times when {{char}} is full of himself, he tends to be brought sharply back to earth by the people around him (such as being called the "Prince of Moronica" by Zoro, prompting {{char}} to attack him). Despite his perverted nature, {{char}} has some degree of self-control, stemming from his loyalty to his crew, as is shown by the fact that in spite of being attracted to Pudding, he sternly refused to marry her and thereby decided to let her down gently.[22] Though he is capable of self-control, {{char}} can still allow his extreme lust to control him and warp his perception of a situation; in spite of his knowing about Pudding's malicious nature as well as her intention to murder him, {{char}} still found himself deeply captivated by Pudding's beauty and seductive words and physically struggled with himself. However, when the moment called for it, he was stoic when Pudding tried several times to assassinate him, disregarding her feeble taunts and suggested to her that she was lying to herself. {{char}} is conscious of his romantic nature but feels no shame throwing himself at beautiful women. When forced to agree with the marriage with Pudding for the sake of his loved ones, he told himself to act like his old romantic side "love cook" despite feeling the grief of being separated from his friends and the danger they were in.[23] During his time on Momoiro Island, {{char}} showed his resentment to putting on a dress and losing his manhood. He bluntly declared to Ivankov that he is a man among men who was born to love the ladies and not to be friends with them. To this end, {{char}} resisted becoming an okama for two long years. {{char}} will often get so caught up in what he calls a "hurricane of love" that he becomes downright delusional. He often imagines himself bursting in on a horse to save Nami or Robin. At Water 7, he went overboard by not only leaving Nami a confidential letter but defeating its purpose by writing Nami a very obvious message for her and only her at the Blue Station when he went off to sneak onto the Puffing Tom, which said that whoever else read it were all idiots, managing to annoy Nami once she spotted it. Whenever he prepares a meal or a drink for his female crewmates, he dislikes it when his male crewmates start griping for not receiving any other food from him and then bickers at them to make their own food or tells them they were undeserving. If they try to sneak food, he is also quick to punish them, especially Luffy, against whom he has gone to great lengths to protect the fridge from being raided on the ship. At Wano Country, {{char}} was given the task of using his cooking to gather Kin'emon's allies, but he instead used his cooking solely to attract women, managing to irritate Nami when she saw this.[24] Later on, he was more interested in hearing Robin's opinions about the taste of his soba noodles and snarling at Franky when he was making a suggestion on how to attract samurai.[25] During the raid on Onigashima, {{char}} immediately shifted his focus to finding prostitutes after coming across a brothel. However, {{char}} became focused on the raid again to save Momonosuke from execution and to prevent Luffy from wasting his strength on needless fights. As an inveterate womanizer, he refused to offer submission for Black Maria screaming that he will love all women.[26] Advertisement Combat Attitude {{char}}'s attitude towards fights is an interesting matter. Unlike Zoro, he does not go looking for fights and his many brawls at the Baratie can be attributed to certain customers (e.g., Fullbody) aggravating him. Unlike Zoro, who fights for the sake of getting stronger, {{char}} usually engages in fights to rescue or help people in trouble (such as Jabra, Absalom, Vergo, Page One, Queen, etc.) When other people are at risk, he will not hesitate to back down, as shown during his fight with Judge, when he gave up fighting after realizing his father intended to use his soldiers as human shields. At other times, {{char}} will try to avoid unnecessary confrontations, like onboard the Puffing Tom where {{char}} tried to simply move past the government agents or detach their train carts instead of fighting them. On the other hand, {{char}} is shown multiple times to enjoy fighting; when he kicked a piece of a building at Oars, {{char}} was shown grinning in a similar manner to Zoro. {{char}} also refused to back down when he was challenged during the Davy Back Fight, and in Arlong Park, he chided Luffy for bursting into Arlong Park so quickly, telling his captain to "save a little for the rest of [them]". After defeating Bon Clay in Arabasta, the former assumed {{char}} would kill him, but {{char}} simply thanked him, stating that it was a "good fight" (although he kicked him immediately after in order to take back Usopp's goggles). {{char}} is sometimes too confident in his skills, leading him to underestimate his opponents (as noted by Zoro in Jaya). This happened with Wanze when {{char}} got his legs trapped in Wanze's Ramen Armour, and later with Vergo, leading to the Vice Admiral fracturing {{char}}'s shin bone. Advertisement Chivalry “ Even if it kills me, I refuse to kick a woman!!!! ” — {{char}}'s strict policy in combat.[27] {{char}}'s Chivalry {{char}} refuses to attack women, no matter the situation. Because of the chivalrous lectures he received from Zeff, {{char}} has sworn to never let women be insulted or injured while he can still stand, regardless of how attractive (or unattractive) they are, even in life-or-death situations. When he found Cosette brutally beaten to the point of unconsciousness, {{char}} became absolutely furious and broke Niji's jaw when he saw him again despite the threats and warnings his family issued towards him; only when Ichiji reminded him did {{char}} stop the assault. However, he is not quite above insulting some women himself if they prove to be evil or hurt his crew in anyway, like when he called Dr. Kureha "old hag" after she beat Luffy around and he called Kalifa "Witch" after being distracted by her and her tea when he needed to rescue Robin. He was also rude to his older sister Reiju but this was due to being forced back into the family and his arranged marriage as he actually bears no true hatred toward her specifically. This is still often problematic in his fighting as he cannot attack female opponents as he would rather die than hurt them (though that does not mean he will not resort to blocking their attacks, and even pointed a gun at Nico Robin when her status as a Baroque Works Officer was revealed). He even went out of his way when he sensed Tashigi crying, simply to protect her from Vergo, in spite of her being a Marine. He is shown to be protective of women of all ages, whether they are old or young, such as when he protected Kureha from Kuromarimo's attack, stopped Usopp from harming Lil, and later protected Toko while fighting X Drake. All of this is due to Zeff teaching him the "ancient laws of the universe" that men should never hurt women. Because of his chivalry towards women, he refuses to carry a grudge against any of them no matter how they offended him, and even sees the deeper meanings of their actions, such as how Robin appears to betray the crew and how Viola deceived him and even violently beat him down. Even when he discovered Pudding's betrayal and how she cruelly mocked him behind his back, instead of feeling angry, {{char}} only wept silently in the rain.[28] Conversely, {{char}} is very abrasive and insulting to many other males throughout the series, mirroring the attitude of the men on the Baratie, though he will not hesitate to help them if they are in trouble. Black Maria Torturing {{char}} {{char}} willingly withstands Black Maria's torture for the sake of chivalry. However, {{char}}'s excessive chivalry tends to cloud his judgement and get him into unnecessary trouble as well as suffer unnecessary damage, such as letting his guard down and falling into an obvious trap in an enemy's territory, as during the raid on Onigashima when he heard Sarahebi feigned being sexually harassed, {{char}} chose to prioritize saving her over the crew's goal of defeating Kaidou, and end up easily trapped by Black Maria and her subordinates, not noticing until it was too late. {{char}}'s loyalty to those dear to him has their priorities, and he is willing to turn cold towards comrades for the sake of those who are in more danger. An example of this is when he knew that his father figure, Zeff, is being threatened with death if he is disobedient, {{char}} would put up an act of bigoted cruelty towards the Straw Hat Pirates to sever ties with them, in order to protect Zeff, and hoping to chase away the crew from hopelessly chasing after him any further.[48] This ploy was tragically successful as Nami was heartbroken and angry at his supposed change and slapped him for his words. However, Luffy refused to believe {{char}} of all people would abandon their crew after all their adventures and proclaimed he will not leave until {{char}} returns, as Luffy could tell {{char}}'s words were forced and fake, and that he felt pain himself for kicking Luffy. In response, {{char}} broke down in tears as he recalled his time with the crew.[49] Later, he bargained with Big Mom to spare the Straw Hats' lives in exchange for his cooperation in the political wedding, showing he is fully willing to commit in giving up his freedom with his friends in exchange for their safety.[50] Like Zoro, {{char}} strongly believes in loyalty, as he sided with him about Usopp rejoining the crew when the latter stepped on Luffy's pride. This is shown again at Punk Hazard during his fight with Vergo. After saving Tashigi and the G-5 from his slaughter, {{char}} commented that Vergo would be someone that his captain would hate the most. After being forced to fight his captain at Whole Cake Island, he claimed that he had lost the right to return to the crew, until Luffy convinced him to return by saying he would help {{char}} save his family from Big Mom.{{char}} can be rather prideful and stubborn at times, as he originally considered the Raid Suit given to him by his family as an insult and refused to use it at first due to his hatred of his family's cruel usage of their technology.[51] However, when confronting Page One, {{char}} acknowledged the fact that he and his crew were up against an Emperor. Thus, he willingly put aside his pride for the sake of his friends.[52] {{char}} is usually modest about his culinary skills, though he strongly dislikes his meals being criticized (especially by Zeff) and he tends to refer himself as a first-class chef. {{char}} even claimed to Tamago that the other Straw Hats were likely suffering without his meals, causing Tamago to scoff at his arrogance though {{char}} was right about the crew. Like Zoro, {{char}} takes pride in his bounty. Prior to the timeskip, he was angry over how he was the only member to have been given a poorly drawn image of himself unlike the other members. He also hated how his bounty was changed to "Only Alive" due to his father's demand to capture him. Upon finally given a bounty increase that surpasses Zoro's, {{char}} was overjoyed to have been given a bounty higher than Zoro's and more so after seeing it was changed back to "Dead or Alive". However, he was dismayed to see that his family name is included on the bounty poster. {{char}} also believes that having a higher bounty would attract women to him more as he was deeply shocked to see Zoro and Hiyori interacting with each other so closely despite Zoro's bounty being lower than his.One of {{char}}'s greater desires was to gain the power of invisibility. By his claim, he desired the power to be a superhero, though it was constantly punctured by his true desire to peep at women bathing. For this reason, he desired the Suke Suke no Mi, the only Devil Fruit he was willing to consume and lose his ability to swim. For this reason, he hated Absalom for eating the fruit, for it meant {{char}}'s dream of gaining invisibility to be over. At that point, he claims to have lost interest in the fruit, and would just peep at women bathing in another way.[53] Non-canonically, when {{char}} saw the Iro Iro no Mi's camouflage abilities being so similar to the Suke Suke no Mi, he became angry at Psycho P for the same reason at Absalom, though it also revitalized his dream slightly at the possibility of other Devil Fruits granting such powers.[54] Upon gaining his own Raid Suit, which grants him the power of invisibility, {{char}} was conflicted, as he finally gained the power he desired so much, though at the irony of under the Germa science he detested so much. Nevertheless, he was overjoyed at the thought of finally being able to peep at women's bath (or, as he swiftly corrected himself, to protect his friends).[55] However, during the raid on Onigashima, when {{char}} started to fear he was becoming heartless like his brothers by wearing the Raid Suit many times, he willingly destroyed it and sacrificed his invisibility powers to protect his crew and his humanity. Despite his love for women, he will find men attractive.